Time Management
My Personal Leadership class never ceases to amaze me.
Last week, Dr. Myers responded to our SIMA's (Actually I may have already blogged about this). A SIMA was a one-page response to what we believed to be our "motivated ability" after evaluating the accomplishments in our life we got pleasure out of and thought we did well. A motivated ability, then, is the overarching reason we do what we love doing, and get through what we don't: it's basically our design, or so the book "Finding a Job you can love" claimed. It took me FOREVER to figure out what my motivated ability might be. For one, I didn't like the idea of putting myself in a box. Second, I didn't even know where to start because many of my "accomplishments" aren't really that great in the world's eyes. Having finished my summary, I turned it in to Dr. Myers believing that I had come up with the best I could come up with, which was that I "am motivated to see the view, so I'll make the climb." I love to work with something I know I can complete and I love looking back down at the finished product and feeling proud of my contribution.
Dr. Myers, however, was able to capture the things I really enjoy about being me and put them down in a single phrase that makes me out to be exactly what I was trying to say but never could articulate! Not only that, but—from what I've gathered from the other students in my class—he did this for all 50 or so of us!
Here's the email Dr. Myers sent me so you can see for yourself what I'm talking about:
It just keeps getting better, and yesterday's class was no exception. We talked about "time management" and the importance of having a "margin" in our lives. It was great to hear the thoughts of others on this subject, but it was especially intriguing to hear the thoughts of God on the subject of time management. God gives us a great example of time management in the creation account, one which we can apply practically to our daily tasks and which is actually the format of the most successful businesses in the world.
1. God established the seven day week.
Of all the cycles of time on the earth, the seven day week is the only one that exists solely in the mind of God. What I mean is that every other time cycle is "natural." A year is one orbit around the sun, a month is one full moon cycle, a day is the rising/setting of the sun. See what I mean? The seven day week doesn't make sense except that God established it... and it works.
2. God set the precedent for rest.
Every sunday-school child knows that God rested on the 7th day, but rarely do we realize that He rested after EACH day's work was done. Unlike many of us today, He wasn't always trying to accomplish that "one last thing" before He finished the day; when He was done, He rested—and begun again the next day in a steady routine culminating in the 7th day's rest.
3. God focused on one or two activities each day.
In the creation account, God isn't concerned with getting it all done as quickly as possible. He doesn't do all the creating on one day, or one second, or one moment (although this was probably because He was establishing the 7 day week). Instead, He shows us the importance of focus, of setting goals not for EVERYTHING we ever want to get done, but for those things that are right in front of us to do. The most successful businesses, after all, set quarterly goals (every 90 days) so that they can concentrate on one or two main areas of improvement and are not overwhelmed with everything they desire the business to become in 10 years.
4. God sequenced His work to create efficiency.
This is an obvious one, but follow God's example and don't create the fish until you've created the water!
Well, that's not all, but it's quite a mouthful. So, I'll pause and let you chew a little while. Hopefully, I'll have the last 3 points up in a post tomorrow or soon following.
"A minute-by-minute relationship with God is the most difficult discipline you could ever try to develop; but because you develop it, everything else becomes easy."
Last week, Dr. Myers responded to our SIMA's (Actually I may have already blogged about this). A SIMA was a one-page response to what we believed to be our "motivated ability" after evaluating the accomplishments in our life we got pleasure out of and thought we did well. A motivated ability, then, is the overarching reason we do what we love doing, and get through what we don't: it's basically our design, or so the book "Finding a Job you can love" claimed. It took me FOREVER to figure out what my motivated ability might be. For one, I didn't like the idea of putting myself in a box. Second, I didn't even know where to start because many of my "accomplishments" aren't really that great in the world's eyes. Having finished my summary, I turned it in to Dr. Myers believing that I had come up with the best I could come up with, which was that I "am motivated to see the view, so I'll make the climb." I love to work with something I know I can complete and I love looking back down at the finished product and feeling proud of my contribution.
Dr. Myers, however, was able to capture the things I really enjoy about being me and put them down in a single phrase that makes me out to be exactly what I was trying to say but never could articulate! Not only that, but—from what I've gathered from the other students in my class—he did this for all 50 or so of us!
Here's the email Dr. Myers sent me so you can see for yourself what I'm talking about:
"I wanted to give you some feedback on the SIMA process. I can see that you put a good bit of effort into understanding the threads that tied key stories of your life together, and identifying different aspects of your motivated abilities. Congratulations and great work.
Here’s what I’m seeing from your one-page report: you thrive through creative tasks that involve complexity, allow for expression and endure in their worth upon reflection.
I’ll keep a copy of your SIMA along with my notes if you’d ever like to talk through some of the implications of your motivated abilities for your future plans."
It just keeps getting better, and yesterday's class was no exception. We talked about "time management" and the importance of having a "margin" in our lives. It was great to hear the thoughts of others on this subject, but it was especially intriguing to hear the thoughts of God on the subject of time management. God gives us a great example of time management in the creation account, one which we can apply practically to our daily tasks and which is actually the format of the most successful businesses in the world.
1. God established the seven day week.
Of all the cycles of time on the earth, the seven day week is the only one that exists solely in the mind of God. What I mean is that every other time cycle is "natural." A year is one orbit around the sun, a month is one full moon cycle, a day is the rising/setting of the sun. See what I mean? The seven day week doesn't make sense except that God established it... and it works.
2. God set the precedent for rest.
Every sunday-school child knows that God rested on the 7th day, but rarely do we realize that He rested after EACH day's work was done. Unlike many of us today, He wasn't always trying to accomplish that "one last thing" before He finished the day; when He was done, He rested—and begun again the next day in a steady routine culminating in the 7th day's rest.
3. God focused on one or two activities each day.
In the creation account, God isn't concerned with getting it all done as quickly as possible. He doesn't do all the creating on one day, or one second, or one moment (although this was probably because He was establishing the 7 day week). Instead, He shows us the importance of focus, of setting goals not for EVERYTHING we ever want to get done, but for those things that are right in front of us to do. The most successful businesses, after all, set quarterly goals (every 90 days) so that they can concentrate on one or two main areas of improvement and are not overwhelmed with everything they desire the business to become in 10 years.
4. God sequenced His work to create efficiency.
This is an obvious one, but follow God's example and don't create the fish until you've created the water!
Well, that's not all, but it's quite a mouthful. So, I'll pause and let you chew a little while. Hopefully, I'll have the last 3 points up in a post tomorrow or soon following.
"A minute-by-minute relationship with God is the most difficult discipline you could ever try to develop; but because you develop it, everything else becomes easy."
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